Location

Commissioner's School Visits

Visit by U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan

April 7, 2009

Bruce
Randolph School in Denver was the setting for a visit from U.S.
Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, who was joined by U.S. Senator
Michael Bennet.

Duncan and
Bennet first met with about 200 students and answered a broad
variety of questions, then headed upstairs to the library to gather with
a broad spectrum of leadership from state government, school districts
across the state and statewide education organizations. The main topic
was school funding through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act,
particularly how the state should position itself for the competitive
process called “Race to the Top.”

Secretary
Duncan made it clear that successful applications will be those that
commit to aggressive, dramatic reform of public schools. He spelled out
that states have to submit proposals covering four areas: a strategy for boosting low-performing schools; a plan to
adopt internationally benchmarked academic standards; a plan to provide
teachers and principals with real-time data about individual student
progress; and a plan to build a system that identifies each educator and
provides information to be used in improving teacher quality and
effectiveness.

Bruce Randolph School Assembly

“All I
care about is, are schools getting better?” Secretary Duncan told the
students. “Are more students graduating? Are more students taking AP
classes? Are more students going to college?”

In a variety of ways, Duncan encouraged states to “challenge the status
quo.” Only a limited number of states will receive the funds, he said,
and it will be those states that are “really ready to push the
envelope.”

I believe
Colorado is in a prime position to submit a successful application for

Race to
the Top funds. Why? Here are a few reasons:

We are
already exploring synergies with other states as we consider
partnerships and look for opportunities to build on mutual
strengths.

The 2008 CAP4K
legislation provides for P-20 alignment of standards and data
systems. Even prior to the CAP4K legislation, the state board of
education had already authorized a revision of all 13 model content
standards, which are being benchmarked against international
expectations.

Under the Innovative
Schools Act, schools and districts have been provided the
opportunity to improve student outcomes with greater autonomy and
flexibility in academic and operational decision-making. The first
two schools that applied (from Denver) won unanimous support from
the state board of education.

Senate Bill 09-163,
the Accountability Alignment Bill, focuses on our approved Colorado
Growth Model and would align conflicting accountability systems into
a single system intended to meet state and federal requirements. As
Secretary Duncan said he expects to see in applications, this bill
will allow the department to take bold steps to reform chronically
underperforming schools. (This bill is still pending but appears to
have strong, bipartisan support.) Also, the National Governor’s
Association has awarded Colorado a grant to support the development
of a comprehensive school turnaround strategy.

House Bill 09-1065,
if passed, will allow for the development of an educator identifier
system that will provide information to be used in improving teacher
quality and effectiveness.

On the
last point, Duncan was straightforward about his expectations. Attract
the best and brightest candidates to the teaching profession, he urged,
build incentives that lead them to the schools where they are needed the
most, and find a way to keep them working with the most needy students.

On every
topic, the secretary urged educators to “change the national
conversation.” Too often, he said, the current system “perpetuates
inequities.”

At the
department of education, we could not agree more—and we know full well
that a broad spectrum of state leaders will work together to craft the
best application possible. Stay tuned!